Liberal humanists believe in "moral relativism" where there is no "right" or "wrong" - all viewpoints are acceptable, and there is no absolute truth. It has three positions:
1) Descriptive relativism describes the way things are, without suggesting a way they ought to be. It seeks only to point out that people frequently disagree over what is the most 'moral' course of action;
2) The meta-ethical position is the truth or falsity of moral judgments as not being objective. Justifications for moral judgments are not universal, but are instead relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of an individual or a group of people. The meta-ethical relativist might say "It's moral to me, because I believe it is";
3) Finally, normative relativism is the prescriptive or normative position that states that because there is no universal moral standard by which to judge others, we ought to tolerate the behavior of others - even when it runs counter to our personal or cultural moral standards. Most philosophers find that this position is incoherent, or at least that it is unclear how such a position can lead to 'ought to' statements.
Humanism is a belief in human based morality and liberal humanism according to Catherine Belsley states that the human being is the free, unconstrained author of meaning and action, the origin of history. Unified, knowing, and autonomous, the human being seeks a political system which guarantees freedom of choice. Western liberal democracy, it claims, is freely chosen, and thus evidently the unconstrained expression of human nature.
Moral values are not absolute in today's social fabric and liberal humanism encourages "unconstrained expression of human nature". Today's civilised society believes that one's personal moral character does not reflect on his public civil service. The news media reports otherwise.
The ex-California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has a 13 year old son, a result of an affair he had with his housekeeper. He would also use state troopers to drive women to hotels he was staying in, clearly abusing his power to hide his personal moral corruption.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, director of the International Monetary Fund has been charged for sexually attacking a chamber maid in a New York hotel. For Kahn this is the last of many allegations regarding his dubious sexual behavior. When questioned regarding his conduct in the past, he simply stated that his personal life is his own business.
85 year old N.D. Tiwari, in 2009 resigned as Governor of Andhra Pradesh state in India for sexual misconduct while in office and has been asked by the Supreme Court to undergo a DNA test as a 31 year old man claims to be his biological son. He continues to claim that he has been framed, inspite of the fact that his misdemeanour is one of the most popular video clip on You Tube!
Immoral behavior took its toll on these men and did much damage to the societies they were supposed to be serving, while in office. A society whose leaders are not required to demonstrate moral character is a society gone astray. When leadership does not instill values from the top down, society at large loses its moral bearings.
The word of God clearly tells us that you cannot twist the truth, or the moral laws set by God (Isaiah 5:20). Some behavior is acceptable in His eyes, and some is not. Evil is evil, and good is good.
We, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, are called to bring clarity to the ambiguity of moral relativism. We have a mission to declare moral absolutes in the midst of a society that does not believe in right and wrong. Let the Church arise to point the way to the Light of Jesus Christ for the removal of the deep darkness that is in our society today.
